Rake

Abbreviation of rakehell (which hints at certain “satanic” characteristics). Alternative term is Libertine. Refers to a fictional male stock character of Restoration and 18th-Century Comedy who leads a lavish and immoral lifestyle of drinking, gambling and promiscuity.

The Rake in Restoration Comedy

In early Restoration comedy, the rake is usually presented in comparatively positive terms as a witty, intelligent and charming cavalier and hero, who is a member of polite society. However, he is still a rather predatory and aggressive character, who follows his Hobbesian appetites by hunting for dominance and sex. While the rake usually has several sexual affairs during the play and is said to have had many affairs before, he traditionally vows faithfulness at the end of the play and gets married to a rich and virtuous heiress.

Later Restoration comedies sometimes show the problematic sides of rakishness by putting characters on stage who spend their inheritance or their allowance by their extravagances and get into serious debt. An example of this is Gayman in Aphra Behn's The Lucky Chance (1686).

Famous Restoration Rakes

Dorimant in George Etherege’s The Man of Mode (1676)

Horner in William Wycherley’s The Country Wife (1675)

Willmore in Aphra Behn’s The Rover (1677)

Sources

McMillin, Scott, ed. Restoration and Eigteenth-Century Comedy. New York: Norton, 1973.

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